My gratitude diary. My happiness jar. A small list of things that have enriched some moments making them memorable and my life that much more enjoyable. Time to thank and celebrate each one of them...
(not affiliated to Coke or any other brand)

Thursday, 3 October 2013

This is a humble note of gratitude to a bunch of white folk
who visited my primary school for a few days and taught each class by class,
each student at a time, the magic of meditation.It has meant a world of a difference to me.

Tuesday, 3 September 2013

Ok let’s get the obvious out of the way. As the stand up
comedians say, ‘‘it’s impossible to talk about ____[INSERT BUXOM CELEBRITY’S NAME HERE] without
using your hands”. And yes, that is a prominent aspect that strikes you – the
abundant, bountiful, wholesome, hearty goodness – a figure like the Venus de
Milo sculpture and the voluptuous women from the renaissance paintings. (It ‘d be easier and less offensive for women
to describe her – Seema Goswami, an editor with HT described Nigella’s cleavage
‘quivering like a well set blancmange’). So yes, that's the obvious that everyone knows and likes, but there's a lot more...

Saturday, 24 August 2013

One of my favourite things to reach out for to pick me up is
the magazine Upper Crust.

In fact if I may say its one of the best kept secrets and
you are unlikely to know about it until you come across it accidentally because
a) there are only four issues in a year, and b) it is not circulated like other
magazines. So the few issues printed and given to stores are normally sold out
like real fast.(The best way to ensure
you get a copy is through subscription, and now if you are an NRI they also deliver
to foreign shores)

Sunday, 18 August 2013

I discovered Dick Francis much later in life and it took
quite a bit to get to like him.But
once I did get a hang of him, it was hard not to consider him one of my
favourites.

I do not read intense stuff like what comes in Oprah’s
reading club nor a fan of classical literature. (In fact books like ‘to kill a mockingbird’
and ‘Color purple’ used to leave me rather depressed and frustrated). My
preference has always been popular pulp fiction. In fact I dig anything that is
an easy read – preferably the faster I can finish it the better – which means
my brain is not taxed much, and yes, usually these books also help me fall
asleep.

Wednesday, 14 August 2013

Imagine you are an editor/ publisher and get a request for a
book – where the author asks you for a major advance. An advance to spend a
year travelling across the globe. Those travels would include a mix of sun, sand
and lagoons, as well as one of the most expensive locations in the heart of
Europe, and there would be one of the muckiest places somewhere in
between.And then, there might be a book about all of this
somewhere after the end of the year. Would you buy into this pitch, however
less or well-known the author was?

Well the world, at least millions of readers like me, shall
forever be grateful to this kind soul who approved this request for it produced
one of the most brilliant, literally life-changing books ever – EAT, PRAY, LOVE

Friday, 9 August 2013

Some of my best learning's have come out of watching the
Oprah Show. However, most of it would be serendipitously, for the majority of
Oprah’s shows didn’t interest me – from makeovers, the book reading club, some
odd American celebrity that I didn’t know anything about, and then the episodes
which I hated the most – Oprah’s giveaway programs where you just simply hated
everyone lucky enough to be in that audience!.Clearly it was mostly targeted mainly/ and only to Americans.

Saturday, 27 July 2013

It seems ironical to write about Tea, after writing about such
a significant influence on my childhood and psyche like ACK – but this blog is
about things both big and small, the trivial and the significant – all that
have in their small or big ways helped enrich my life both intellectually,
spiritually as well as provided me relief, succour etc.

I was in Colombo earlier this year on a company led
jamboree, and there were about a 100 of us. In one of the most natural group formations, another
vegetarian and I were hanging around together. He was a Gujarati, and by the
first afternoon, he was dying for chaai.

Friday, 26 July 2013

An important part of my childhood,
and one of the most defining contributions would be that of Amar Chitra Katha
comics.My generation in fact owes
significant gratitude to the founder Anant Pai for helping shape our thoughts
and opinions, and also educating us about history and folklore.

It is inevitable, so let me
declare that I don’t have any relation to Mr. Pai, but have basked in the
rub-off of having the same surname.So
when I refer to him as ‘Uncle Pai’ it is only using the name by which he was popularly
called.

As the story goes the founder was
quite disappointed to see students at a quiz not able to answer questions on
Indian History but cracking all questions related to the US. (This was in the
70s – decades before the internet, telecom and liberalisation –so history is
what we had a lot of!)

For long, I have been sold on to
the dry Brit wit and ‘humour’ – condescending
(‘interesting’ they would say – you can only guess what that meant!).From sitcoms to fashion, there are sooo many
countless and creative ways to put someone or yourself down (watch the fashion reviews of
the red carpet for any event and you know what I mean!).

However, in life there is so much
to be grateful for, and one should really count their blessings and privileges.
This therefore is a small, well not small but pretty large collection of ‘these
are a few of my favourite things’.I can
tell you this will not get too philosophical or spiritual, but let me warn you
it might get schmaltzy, nostalgic and melancholic. And for sure, there's going to be lots and lots of foods and drinks that shall pitch in (so if you're on a diet plan stay away!)Would encourage each one of us to make their
own gratitude dairies.(the logo image was sourced from http://www.synergyart.co.uk/category/coca-cola)